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Bernard Fensterwald
Bernard "Bud" Fensterwald Jr. (2 August 1921 – 2 April 1991) was an American lawyer who defended James Earl Ray and James W. McCord Jr. Other notable clients included Mitch WerBell,Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda. p. 246. 1984. New York: Ballantine Books. Richard Case NagellRussell, Dick. The Man Who Knew Too Much. New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992. and the widow of John Paisley.Russell, The Man Who Knew Too Much. See also Widows by William Corson, Joseph Trento, and Susan B. Trento. Early life Fensterwald was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. Fensterwald graduated from Harvard Law School in 1949. He entered the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and received an M.A. in 1950. Legal career From 1951 to 1956 Fensterwald worked for the State Department as an Assistant Legal Advisor. This included defending State Department employees accused by Joseph McCarthy of being members of the American Communist Party. In 1957 Fensterwald was hired by Thomas C. Hennings as an investigator for the Senate Committee on Constitutional Rights. In the 1960s he was chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Edward V. Long." Fensterwald once implied that Long was being blackmailed by the FBI.Summers, Anthony. Official and Confidential, p. 207-208. 1993. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. Fensterwald's career and writings are frequently discussed by conspiracy theorists. In 1969, he and Richard E. Sprague founded a private "Committee to Investigate Assassinations," which primarily concerned itself with the Kennedy assassination. In the late 1970s, he was Congressman Thomas N. Downing's favorite to become chief counsel for the House Select Committee on Assassinations but withdrew himself from consideration after objection from Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez.Fonzi, Gaeton. The Last Investigation. p. 175-176. 1993. New York: Thunder's MouthLane, Mark. Plausible Denial. p. 29. 1991. New York: Thunder's Mouth. In 1984, Fensterwald and James Lesar (with whom Fensterwald had represented James Earl RayPepper, William F. Orders to Kill. p. 77. 1995. New York: Carroll and Graf) founded the Assassination and Archives Research Center (AARC). One of Fensterwald's more notable cases was his unsuccessful defense of Watergate criminal James McCord. He was also connected to other characters on the fringes of Watergate. John Paisley, who was the CIA liaison to the White House Plumbers, was Fensterwald's friend and neighbor. When Paisley died under suspicious circumstances, his widow hired Fensterwald to investigate. Prior to the Watergate burglaries, both Fensterwald and McCord employed a private investigator named Lou Russell.Hougan, Jim. Secret Agenda. (passim) Fensterwald died of a heart attack in Alexandria, Virginia, aged 69.Narvaez, Alfonso (April 4, 1991). Bernard Fensterwald, 69, Lawyer For James Ray and Watergate Spy. New York Times Bibliography *Fensterwald, Bernard. Assassination of JFK. Zebra, 1977. ASIN: B000J00JA2 *Fensterwald, Bernard and Michael Ewing. Coincidence or Conspiracy? Kensington Publishing Corporation, 1977. ISBN 978-0-89083-232-5 References External links *Assassination Archives and Research Center *Bernard Fensterwald biography Category:1921 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Virginia lawyers Category:People of the Watergate scandal Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:People associated with the John F. Kennedy assassination Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:People from Alexandria, Virginia